


through all the hardship

by LiveLaughLovex



Series: nothing half so pleasant [5]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Gen, Post-Episode: s09e16 Hapai ke kuko hanau ka hewa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-04 04:39:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17891645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLaughLovex/pseuds/LiveLaughLovex
Summary: Post e09e16. It turns out that her partner has motherly things to do this evening. That's fine. It's not like she's exactly short on drinking buddies or anything.





	through all the hardship

**Author's Note:**

> I do not know what happened with this one, honestly. I take notes of things as I'm watching the show to write up these stories later on in the evening, and literally the only thing I wrote down was the line about cupcakes. That's it. How that turned into 1500 words, a few hundred of which are less amusing and more about feelings, I will never know. I hope you enjoy it anyway, though. The title comes from Chris Stapleton's "Friendship."

“Hey,” Steve greeted happily, stepping aside to let Kono into the house. He glanced over at her as he closed the door behind them. “Not that I’m going to complain about seeing so much of you these days – ever – but I thought you were working tonight. You caught that burglary case, right?”

“I did, yeah,” Kono said, sighing as she followed him into the kitchen. She nodded her thanks when he handed one of the two beer bottles he’d just removed from the refrigerator across the counter to her. “The perp wasn’t exactly the smartest, though. He got arrogant, left his prints and DNA all over his last victim’s living room. We picked him up about an hour ago. Took me and O’Connor about five minutes to talk him into giving it all up.”

“Well, you know what they say. There’s no honor _or_ intelligence among thieves these days.” Steve smirked wryly. “So, why’re you drinking with me and not O’Connor? Is she the only cop we know who turns down beer?”

“Uh, no. She’s full Irish on one side, half-Russian on the other. She’d rather shoot herself in the foot than turn down booze, especially if I’m the one footing the bill. She’s with her kids tonight. Hadley had some sort of ballet recital, and Britt’s ex is – well, he’s being himself.” Kono shrugged. “I’m the only one in the unit without kids who do things, so I didn’t exactly have anywhere to race off to after I finished booking our guy. Sitting in my office alone and drinking cheap beer seemed too depressing, so I decided to come over here and drink cheap beer with you instead.”

“Well, I’m honored,” Steve returned with an amused smile. “And you know you’re always welcome, Kono. Even at…” He glanced down at his watch and let out a low whistle. “…eleven o’clock at night.”

“Criminals don’t sleep,” Kono reminded him with an arched brow, taking another swallow of her beer. “Cops can’t either. If we only saw each other during normal business hours, then we’d never see each other.”

“We could see each other more if you transferred back to Five-0,” Steve pointed out, setting his bottle down on the counter and then levelling her with a very pointed stare.

“I appreciate the offer, Steve. I do,” she murmured, picking at the bottle’s label. “And I would’ve taken you up on it in a heartbeat if you’d offered it to me before I took this task force on, but I just – I feel like I am where I’m supposed to be right now, you know? After I left Nevada, I didn’t think I would ever have that again. And I’m not saying that the work Five-0 does isn’t important –”

“It’s just not what you need to be doing right now,” Steve interrupted with a sigh. He nodded once. “Understood. Just so you know, though, job’s yours again the second you decide you want it.”

“Noted.” Kono took another sip of her beer. “So. I hear you had a murdered mermaid. That’s a hell of a tongue-twister, yeah?”

“How’d you hear about that?” Steve asked suspiciously, arching a brow slightly in question.

“We share the same friends, remember?” Kono set her drink down on the counter. “I’m just glad the group she was with wasn’t filled with kids. There’s already enough to traumatize them in this world; last thing they need is to see someone bleed out in the ocean right in front of them.”

“I don’t think any kids are ever at these things,” Steve admitted. “Jerry brought up the brochure; it costs, like, ten thousand dollars to spend a day out at that place.”

“Really? Hell, I could sew myself a tail and go out in the ocean for a swim without even spending twenty bucks. I can’t imagine paying thousands for someone to show me how it’s done.”

“In all fairness, you were a professional surfer for multiple years of your life,” Steve reminded her.

“That… is a very good point.” Kono shook her head. “This case of yours has taught me a very important lesson.”

“Yeah?” Steve asked amusedly. “What’s that?”

“I knew there was a very good reason I’ve never liked smoothies, and now I have proof that I was right.”

“Hm. You sure that’s the only reason you don’t like smoothies?” Steve questioned doubtfully.

Kono shrugged noncommittally. “All right, fine, I have other issues. Like, you know, the fact that kale is awful enough on its own and should never, ever be made into a liquid form. All I’m saying is that the girl wouldn’t have gotten poisoned if she’d eaten a cupcake. Don’t put collagen in baked goods. That’s all.”

“Yeah. I’ve helped tear this woman’s life apart over the past few days, and I don’t know if I can agree with you on that one. You see, she seems very much like the type to put collagen in a cupcake.”

Kono sighed at that. “Well. Her death is tragic, horrific taste in baked goods and all.”

“Yes,” Steve agreed, sobering slightly. “It is.”

Silence fell for a few moments, and Kono picked her bottle up again. She didn’t take a sip, though, instead continuing to pick at the label. “How was Adam’s housewarming?”

“Good,” Steve replied after a moment of hesitation. “How did you, uh, how’d you know about that? Not that you shouldn’t have known,” he rushed to add. “You just weren’t there, that’s all.”

“Yeah. He invited me,” Kono explained. “I just couldn’t come. You know, crazy people to chase down and all. But Jerry brought up some epic speech he’d made when we were texting earlier. He tried to talk himself out of it when he realized what he’d let slip, but.” She shrugged. “I’m glad Adam’s doing better. I really am. I never meant to make him feel like he didn’t have anyone.”

“I know that,” Steve assured her. “And Adam knows it, too. What happened with him wasn’t your fault, Kono.”

“My husband went from a man who occasionally drank at dinner and when he was out with us to someone who couldn’t go more than twelve hours without a shot,” Kono reminded her friend with a humorless laugh. “And I only made that worse by divorcing him. I still think that was the right call for us both – I’m never going to change my mind on that one – but this is one hundred percent my fault, Steve. You don’t have to lie to me, and neither does he.”

“Okay, so maybe you’re the reason he picked up the bottle,” Steve acquiesced after a moment. “Doesn’t mean you’re the reason he popped it open. That’s all on him. He took that on for himself. You do not need to do the same. You don’t get to. It’s not fair to anyone, especially Adam.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Kono sighed after a moment. “When did you become so philosophical?”

“I ride in a car with Danny Williams for about twelve hours out of every day. I’m also his daughter’s honorary uncle. Deep thinking is apparently common in the Williams family; it’s starting to rub off on me.”

“Yes,” Kono sighed humorlessly, finishing off the last of her beer. “Yes, it is.”

“All right, Kalakaua.” Steve glared over at her. “I don’t need you to make fun of me.”

“Oh, yes you do,” Kono disagreed. “If I stop knocking you down a few pegs every now and then, your ego’s not going to be able to fit through the door anymore.”

“We’ll have to agree to disagree on that one,” Steve muttered, though the smile on his lips belied every word leaving his mouth. “You want another?” he asked after a moment, jerking his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the refrigerator.

“Yeah,” Kono agreed, smiling when he promptly removed a second bottle and handed it over. “Thanks.”

Steve shrugged as he popped the lid off his own beer and took a sip. “I’m not going to make you buy your own booze. Don’t want to do anything that might scare you away from the island. Who else would make fun of Danny and his mannerisms with me?” The slight smirk he shot her made her laugh quietly.

“Literally anyone else who’s ever met him,” Kono offered, removing her own lid.

“Fair point. Still. We missed you these past two years. It’s good to have you back. I don’t want to take any chances on you leaving.” His tone was still slightly teasing, but there was something honest in his words that made her internally flinch. She’d forgotten, back when she was on a crusade for justice for those little girls that depended on her, that there were other people who depended on her, as well. She was through letting them down.

“Well, you don’t need to worry about that,” she assured her friend after a moment.

Steve shot her a curious look. “No?”

“No,” she confirmed, smiling slightly as she glanced behind him, her eyes focusing on the beauty of the beach. She’d missed that view. “I know why I came back. I’m not going anywhere. Not ever again.”

“Well, good,” Steve murmured, holding up his bottle.

She clinked it with her own. “Good.”


End file.
